Past members include a NFL star, a Tony winner, and Politician Rand Paul, but it's the current members of a secret society at Baylor who have taken a "NoZe" dive into the spotlight by making big waves at the Waco university.

Author:
Rissa Shaw

Published:
2:59 AM EDT October 18, 2016

Updated:
2:59 AM EDT October 18, 2016

Past members include a NFL star, a Tony winner, and Politician Rand Paul, but it's the current members of a secret society at Baylor who have taken a "NoZe" dive into the spotlight by making big waves at the Waco university.

During Saturday's 2016 Homecoming Parade, members of "The Noble NoZe Brotherhood," the group famous for pranks and publishing the satirical newspaper The Rope, mocked the Baylor administration, namely the Board of Regents, over the school's on-going sexual assault scandal.

"The world's largest Baptist University...not that much a fan of free speech 100% of the time," said the group's President, Brother "CocoNoZe Shrimp II," also referred to as the "Lorde Mayor."

By wearing wild outfits with a signature nose-and-glasses garnish, the "brothers" can be more expressive, and less conspicuous.

In full "NoZe" garb Saturday, plastic noses and all, members publicly shamed the university for how it has currently, and historically handled sexual assaults.

"We were 'The Baylor Board of Regents Cleaning Service'...'we won't clean your carpet, but we'll sweep things under the rug for you," said Brother "CocoNoZe Shrimp II" of their bold display. "We did a shout-out to the Chipotle because, much like the Board of Regents, 'we keep things under wraps.'"

While they're famous for wearing those large "NoZes," the Brotherhood believes, when it comes to sexual assaults on-campus, Baylor's Board of Regents are the real "Pinocchios."

"We figured, well, who was the liar 100% of the time? And that's when we went 'oh, the Board of Regents, that's easy,'" said Brother "CocoNoZe Shrimp II."

But HOW to express such a serious message with humor was tricky.

"We had to really think about 'how do you talk about what's going on at Baylor and not make rape jokes?'" said Brother "CocoNoZe Shrimp II." "We never want to hurt the victims, but it seemed irresponsible not to talk about it."

So according to the Lorde Mayor, five minutes before the parade, they decided to show their support for victims of sexual assault by holding brooms beside their float, a red pickup truck dragging a carpet, to symbolize Baylor administrators were "sweeping the issue under the rug."

However, many did like it. The group received a lot of support on social media, and some even at the parade.

"One person came up to me, I gave them The Rope, and he said 'thank you for saying what everyone in Waco thinks,'" said Brother "Orange Mocha FrappucciNoZe." "And that just made my heart bleed."

However, it's not their hearts, it's not their noses, it's their voices they hope will change their university.

"We'll still be not taking ourselves seriously, we'll still be making dumb jokes, but we're gonna talk about whatever needs to be talked about, and we're not gonna ignore it, and I think it's important that we just keep talking," said Brother "CocoNoZe Shrimp II."

The Brotherhood has had an "iffy" relationship with the university over it's 90-year history. In KCEN's exclusive interview Monday, members said while the university allowed them to be part of this year's parade, the university's religious department had denounced the group in recent years, liking it to an "excommunication." Brothers also claimed the university purposefully kept them out of photos of this year's Homecoming floats.

A Baylor official responded to the group's parade display Monday, saying the students were 'well within their rights to express themselves,' and they did not violate any university policy.

Besides publishing The Rope and performing pranks, although independent from the university, the Brotherhood asserts it does beautification on-campus, and has an endowment fund. To learn more about "The Nobel NoZe Brotherhood" and it's approximately 20 members, visit www.thenoze.org.